The First and the Last
by Solianne
Summary: The last time she sees him, or so she thinks, is just before his battle with Naruto in the Chunin exams. She doesn't believe that he'll lose; she's sure he'll win and she's sure that when he does, he'll leave them behind, in the dust and not look back. Tenten remembers the almost firsts and lasts and the actual firsts and lasts.


The first time she sees him, she knows he doesn't see her, his eyes are focused straight ahead, ignoring the somewhat strange boy with the bowl cut that seems to be so full of energy that even while supposed to stay still, he can't help but twitch. She meanwhile feels her palms grow sweaty as she stares at the large building in front of her, _the academy_, and she wonders if anyone else is nervous too.

The first time she sees him, she doesn't know yet that she'll be on the same team as him or that the strange boy will be one of their greatest motivators. No, the first time she sees him she sees his eyes and wonders for a moment if he's blind even though she knows about the Hyuga clan and she heard her mother whisper about them earlier, it takes her mind a moment to put two and two together.

The first time he sees her, is when they're assigned seats at the academy. Her seat is the one just behind his and she has to walk past him to get to it. She knows he noticed her then, because she almost tripped over her own feet while walking up to it, stubbing her toe on the stairs as she walked. She also knows everyone else noticed her too, as they all shared a laugh as she sank into her seat, hanging her head.

The first time she really sees him, is when they're assigned into teams. The strange boy, who she now knows as Lee, is with them too and as she meets their Sensei and team leader, she can't help but wonder if they're related. When she learns they are not, she wonders if she has an older clone of her own walking around somewhere. It's also when she learns more about the Hyuga and the differences between the main and the branch families. She also comes to realize that Lee isn't the only one with a clone walking around as the Hyuga all look eerily similar.

The first time she really sees him, they've just finished a mission together and they're walking back, Gai and Lee running ahead while she and Neji walks leisurely behind. Gai insisted on walking all of them home while carrying weights that seemed to weigh more that the second Hokage's stone head. It's the first time she sees the Hyuga courtyard, the first time she sees Hinata and the first time she sees the head of the family. It's also the first time she sees a crack in Neji's façade as she can feel the hate radiating off him as they get closer. By the time they reach his home, he has it all hidden away again and she wonders for a moment what else he hides behind that mask.

The first the he really sees her, they're having target practice and they've been handed shuriken by Gai. He moves the targets further and further away as they practice and gives them orders to run and jump while tossing the shuriken at the target. Out of the three, Lee is the worst, though he keeps going and gets better each time he tries. She watches as Neji runs, jumps and throws his shuriken at the target, and hears Gai yell in appreciation. When it is her turn, they don't say much at all, nor do they say much when she lands after throwing her shuriken. However, when she looks at the target she can't help but smile. _Her aim is better than his (at least when he isn't using his Byakugan)_, she thinks to herself as she finally looks around only to notice that they're all looking at her and she can see a glimmer of respect in their eyes.

The last time she sees him, or so she thinks, is just before his battle with Naruto in the Chunin exams. She doesn't believe that he'll lose; she's sure he'll win and she's sure that when he does, he'll leave them behind, in the dust and not look back. When he loses, she thinks about her own loss and Lee's and wonders what chance she really had at all, if Neji couldn't win.

The last time she sees him, or so she thinks, is just after he becomes a Jonin. _This time_, she thinks, _he'll leave us behind for good._ After all, they're still just Chunins, and he doesn't really need them anymore and perhaps he never truly did. When he doesn't immediately go off on his own, but stays around, she wonders if maybe he considers them worthwhile after all.

The last time he sees her or, or so he thinks, is when Kisame traps them. She knows because the last thing she sees and hears before she starts to lose consciousness is the desperation from Lee as the tries to get out and the fierce determination in Neji's eyes to break free. He, like her and like Lee, isn't prepared to let this be his last time doing anything and so when she's finally free to draw a breath of air she finds herself unsurprised. He, like her and like Lee, shares the determination of their Sensei and of their younger comrade.

The last time she really sees him, she doesn't believe it's the last time at all. They are sitting around a fire, eating a meal, both of them dirty, tired and struggling. Yet there's a sense of comfort, even if neither one of them is actually saying anything. They both know that the other will departing tomorrow and they know it won't be in the same direction. Still, in her mind she feels certain that they will see each other on the battlefield again and they'll fight, side by side, once more.

The last time she really sees him, she shares a smile and an exasperated laugh with him as they recall one of the many challenges their Sensei has given his comrade over the years and the many challenges Lee has put himself through as well. They linger for a moment, both weary and more than ready to sleep, yet knowing that once dawn comes they will be apart. She still doesn't believe that it is the last time she'll see him, but she does know that she will miss him while he is gone. That he lingers too, tells her, she hopes, that he will miss her too.

The last time he really sees her, he doesn't. His eyes are closed, but even if they were not, she knows she would find no sign of life in them. His pulse left him long ago and she wonders if his spirit is watching, if it waited for her to come or if he's already moved along. Yet, somehow she knows, her heart knows, that he's waited for her to come. She doesn't know how she knows, only that despite the fact that she can clearly _see_ that he is gone, it doesn't feel that way. At least, not at first. As she watches him and Lee crumbles next to her, she feels a shift, a break, somewhere deep inside of her and she knows, her heart knows, _he's gone._

* * *

**A/N: **This one has taken me forever to write. I'd write a few lines, maybe even a paragraph, and then stop. I finally completed it though, though it took me a good while to do so. It's the first time I've written Tenten and it's the first time I've written anything with or about Neji.


End file.
